The World's Most Unusual Therapist

by Dr. Joe Vitale

Two years ago, I heard about a therapist in Hawaii who cured a complete ward of criminally insane patients ﹣ without ever seeing any of them. The psychologist would study an inmate's chart and then look within himself to see how he created that person's illness. As he improved himself, the patient improved.

When I first heard this story, I thought it was an urban legend. How could anyone heal anyone else by healing himself? How could even the best self-improvement master cure the criminally insane?

It didn't make any sense. It wasn't logical, so I dismissed the story.

However, I heard it again a year later. I heard that the therapist had used a Hawaiian healing process called ho'oponopono. I had never heard of it, yet I couldn't let it leave my mind. If the story was at all true, I had to know more.

I had always understood "total responsibility" to mean that I am responsible for what I think and do. Beyond that, it's out of my hands. I think that most people think of total responsibility that way. We're responsible for what we do, not what anyone else does. The Hawaiian therapist who healed those mentally ill people would teach me an advanced new perspective about total responsibility.

His name is Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len. We probably spent an hour talking on our first phone call. I asked him to tell me the complete story of his work as a therapist. He explained that he worked at Hawaii State Hospital for four years. That ward where they kept the criminally insane was dangerous. Psychologists quit on a monthly basis. The staff called in sick a lot or simply quit. People would walk through that ward with their backs against the wall, afraid of being attacked by patients. It was not a pleasant place to live, work, or visit.

Dr. Len told me that he never saw patients. He agreed to have an office and to review their files. While he looked at those files, he would work on himself. As he worked on himself, patients began to heal.

"After a few months, patients that had to be shackled were being allowed to walk freely," he told me. "Others who had to be heavily medicated were getting off their medications. And those who had no chance of ever being released were being freed."

I was in awe.

"Not only that," he went on, "but the staff began to enjoy coming to work. Absenteeism and turnover disappeared. We ended up with more staff than we needed because patients were being released, and all the staff was showing up to work. Today, that ward is closed."

This is where I had to ask the million dollar question: "What were you doing within yourself that caused those people to change?"

"I was simply healing the part of me that created them," he said.

I didn't understand.

Dr. Len explained that total responsibility for your life means that everything in your life - simply because it is in your life ﹣ is your responsibility. In a literal sense the entire world is your creation.

Whew. This is tough to swallow. Being responsible for what I say or do is one thing. Being responsible for what everyone in my life says or does is quite another. Yet, the truth is this: if you take complete responsibility for your life, then everything you see, hear, taste, touch, or in any way experience is your responsibility because it is in your life.

This means that terrorist activity, the president, the economy ﹣ anything you experience and don't like ﹣ is up for you to heal. They don't exist, in a manner of speaking, except as projections from inside you. The problem isn't with them, it's with you, and to change them, you have to change you.

I know this is tough to grasp, let alone accept or actually live. Blame is far easier than total responsibility, but as I spoke with Dr. Len, I began to realize that healing for him and in ho'oponopono means loving yourself. If you want to improve your life, you have to heal your life. If you want to cure anyone ﹣even a mentally ill criminal ﹣ you do it by healing you.

I asked Dr. Len how he went about healing himself. What was he doing, exactly, when he looked at those patients' files?

"I just kept saying, ' I'm sorry ' and ' I love you ' over and over again," he explained.

That's it?

That's it.

Turns out that loving yourself is the greatest way to improve yourself, and as you improve yourself, your improve your world. Let me give you a quick example of how this works: one day, someone sent me an email that upset me. In the past I would have handled it by working on my emotional hot buttons or by trying to reason with the person who sent the nasty message. This time, I decided to try Dr. Len's method. I kept silently saying, "I'm sorry" and "I love you," I didn't say it to anyone in particular. I was simply evoking the spirit of love to heal within me what was creating the outer circumstance.

Within an hour I got an e-mail from the same person. He apologized for his previous message. Keep in mind that I didn't take any outward action to get that apology. I didn't even write him back. Yet, by saying "I love you," I somehow healed within me what was creating him.

I later attended a ho'oponopono workshop run by Dr. Len. He's now 70 years old, considered a grandfatherly shaman, and is somewhat reclusive. He praised my book, The Attractor Factor. He told me that as I improve myself, my book's vibration will raise, and everyone will feel it when they read it. In short, as I improve, my readers will improve.

"What about the books that are already sold and out there?" I asked.

"They aren't out there," he explained, once again blowing my mind with his mystic wisdom. "They are still in you."

In short, there is no out there.

It would take a whole book to explain this advanced technique with the depth it deserves. Suffice it to say that whenever you want to improve anything in your life, there's only one place to look: inside you.

"When you look, do it with love."


This article is from the forthcoming book "Zero Limits" by Dr. Joe Vitale and Dr. Len

Guru

You should do your duty in the world with love,
and that alone will contribute significantly
to your progress in the path of enlightenment.
You do need one who can guide and help you.
You need an external guru
as a means to attain the guru within you.
Sometimes you may become egotistical and decide,
“I don’t need a guru.”
That is ego talking.
You must tame it.

If you are in search of a guru,
search within first.
To become a yogi means
to know condition here and now;
to work with yourself.

Don’t ever believe anyone who comes to you and demands, “Worship me.”
Even Christ and Buddha did not ask that.
Never forget that guru is not the goal.
Guru is like a boat for crossing the river.
It is very important to have a good boat
and it is very dangerous to have a boat that is leaking.
But after you have crossed the river,
you don’t need to hang on to your boat,
and you certainly don’t worship the boat.

Many fanatics think they should worship a guru.
A guru should receive your love and respect ~
that is different from worship.
If my guru and the Lord both come together,
I will go to my guru first and say,
“Thank you very much. You have introduced me to the Lord.”
I will not go to the Lord and say,
“Thank you very much, Lord. You have given me my guru.”

Increase your capacity.
Purify yourself.
Acquire that gentle strength within.
God will come and say to you:
“I want to enter this living temple that you are.”
Prepare yourself for that situation.
Remove the impurities
and you will find that
he who wants to know reality is himself the source of reality.

Excerpt: ~ Living with the Himalayan Masters ~

Voice of Silence

The voice of silence is supreme.
It is beyond all levels of consciousness
and all methods of communication.

Learn to listen to the voice of silence.

Rather than discussing scriptures
and arguing with sages,
just enjoy their presence.

You are on a journey;
don’t stop for long at one place
and get attached to anything.
Silence will give you what the world can never give you.

Excerpt: ~ Living with the Himalayan Masters ~

Karma

Karma has twin laws of cause and effect. They are inseparable. Without profound devotion and love, karma cannot become a means for liberation. Karma creates bondage for human beings by creating obstacles in the path of self-realization. The philosophy of reincarnation is inseparable from the philosophy of karma. They are one and the same.

When we devote our mind, energy, and resources to believing in that which is non-existent, then it appears to exist. Don’t contemplate on evil, devils, or sins and thereby put yourself in a state of stress and worry. Even spiritual people become preoccupied with blaming the world for their lack of progress. This weakness is significant in creating obstacles. For lack of sincerity, honesty, faithfulness and truthfulness, we do not realize that which we are. We project our weaknesses and think that the objects of the world are the source of our obstacles.

Excerpt: ~ Living with the Himalayan Masters ~

Fight No More

Your physical body is not different from any other situations or relationships in this world. It can be healed with the power of love. When you think of your body as sick or unsightly, you are in fact judging it and sending it the negative image of your mind. When you devise various ways to fix your body, you are in fact avoiding the real problem, which is the imperfection in your sight. As a result, your relationship with your body could only be described as tiresome at best and at worst a battle, with you condemning it, and it rebelling against you by giving you exactly the opposite of what you want.

You easily forgive others and even some unthinkable circumstances in life, but you consistently failed to give up the habit of harshly judging and criticizing your own physical body. Loving-kindness is only true and lasting when it flows everywhere, without and within. If you can only be kind to others and are unable to be kind to yourself, then such imbalance must be addressed lest you fall heavily to the ground from the fatigue of fighting with yourself.

How can you be kind and loving to your own physical body? The same way when you acknowledge that all other people and events are LOVE in disguise, you must acknowledge that your physical body is also LOVE in actuality.

Say to your body, “Love is Who You Are.”

Especially to the blemishes on your face, the white hairs on your head, the fat on your waist, the discomfort at your back, and the countless other dissatisfaction that you have cursed and fought against ever since you were born, say to them, “Love is Who You Are.” This struggle with your very own physical body must end this moment, for you do have loftier goals awaits your visits and blessings.

When you say to your physical body, “Love is Who You Are”, you are in fact giving it the space and reason to be wholly itself again, functioning perfectly, without your constant interference. When you say to your physical body, “Love is Who You Are”, you are in fact acknowledging the Oneness in you, which sees no distinction between the physical and the spiritual. When you say to your physical body, “Love is Who You Are”, you are acknowledging your own Divinity from head to toes, and this can only be a genuine relief to you finally, after such long fight and struggle.

“Love is Who You Are”, not just spiritually, not just emotionally, but totally and unconditionally, and that, includes your physical body as well. Be at peace with your physical body today and now. Fight no more with it due to ignorance mostly your own. Now you know better, please act accordingly.

Grant your body the Love that you have denied it for so long, yet easily granted to a stranger, and release both you and your body from the fruitless fight and struggle forever. Say to your body, “Love is Who You Are”, and see it reflects the Truth in your eyes. Say to any parts of your body that seem troubling to you, “Love is Who You Are”, and hear their songs of joy. See your body for the Love that it truly is and restore your Vision back to Perfection.

Let go of the fight with the food you eat. There is no need to curse it for making you fat and ill. Say to the food you are about to eat, “Love is Who You Are.” Say to the water you are about to drink, “Love is Who You Are.” Then see them sparkle and shine with the light and energy of LOVE, awaiting your communion and loving exchange. In this way, the eating experience is truly “From Love with Love To Love”.

From now on, for every mouthful that you take, remember the food for the Love that it truly is. Every mouthful is Love meeting Love for the first time and Love reuniting with Love once again.

Anything done without Love is pale and wrong, and anything Love did not do must be done one more time, by Love. Anything not seen as Love or in Love must be seen yet again, until Perfect Vision is achieved and you would see wrongly no more.